1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to data processing for business applications and, more particularly, to booking systems for negotiating terms and reserving space on transport vessels.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the field of ship chartering, a typical transaction between a charterer, e.g. one who wishes to ship cargo, and a ship owner, e.g. one who may be hired to transport the cargo, usually requires the engagement of a shipping broker to bring the parties together and to effectuate a shipping agreement (referred to herein as a xe2x80x9cfixturexe2x80x9d or a xe2x80x9ccharter partyxe2x80x9d contract). This is because information on available ships is usually not widely available to charterers. Likewise, charterers generally have no forum, outside of brokers, for publicizing their chartering needs to ship owners on the open market. If such information were to become available to the shipping market at large, outside of the influence of brokers, significant savings in time and expense to both charterers and ship owners could be realized.
A broker typically earns a commission of 1.25% of the fixture. This percentage is then usually charged by the broker to both parties. An average fixture for the spot tanker market in 1992 was $459,800, leading to an average commission of $11,495. A broker may complete 25-30 fixtures per week, totaling $287,375 to $344,850 a week in commissions, or $14,943,500 to $17,932,200 a year. Thus, brokers in the spot tanker chartering market earn significant revenues for themselves, which in turn adds millions of dollars to chartering transactions each year.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a forum wherein shipping information is directly available to both charterers and ship owners in order to allow for the negotiation of fixtures or charter parties without enlisting a broker.
In order to address and solve certain of the foregoing shortcomings in the prior art, the present invention provides a method and accompanying apparatus which allow charterers and ship owners to exchange cargo transportation information without the assistance of a broker. In a first embodiment, the method includes providing an electronic network site for receiving and storing information from both charterers and ship owners in order to more readily accomplish agreements for cargo transport. The network site is operative to process the received information so as to provide to the charterer a listing of ships, which fit criteria established by the charterer, from among the information supplied by the ship owners.
In a second embodiment, a method of brokerless arrangement for the shipment of cargoes includes providing for direct negotiations between a charterer and a ship owner by making information concerning the charter directly available to both the charterer and the ship owner without the use of a broker.
In a further embodiment of the present invention, the cargo transportation information is provided on forms or templates.
In yet another embodiment of the present invention the processing step includes a matching step in which criteria from the charterer is matched with ship descriptions and availability stored on the network site.
In still another embodiment, a method of the present invention further includes a step of initiating communication between the charterer and the ship owner whose ship fits the criteria established by the charterer, wherein such direct communication may be facilitated by e-mail.
In a still further embodiment, a method of the present invention further includes the step of providing the ship owner with an on-screen display of the standard terms used by the charterer, which, in turn, may enable more rapid agreement between the charterer and the ship owner.
In a further embodiment of the present invention, the network site may memorialize the agreement between the ship owner and the charterer in the form of a fixture. This may be accomplished, for example, by automatically generating a charter party contract based on the fixture.
In a still further embodiment, a method of the present invention may further include the payment of a commission to the owner of the network site.
In yet another embodiment, the network site may be implemented on the Internet or on a private network.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the network site may further include a central database accessible by the charterer and the ship owner, and maintained at the network site. The database may include information such as ship descriptions and positions. The database may further include a plurality of fixtures which are authorized by one or more charterers and owners to be placed in the database, and publicly or privately viewed. The database may further include co-loading cargo information and financing information.
It is therefore an advantage of certain embodiments of the present invention that an interactive network site can store up-to-date information for use by ship owners and charterers which enable them to negotiate and enter into charter party contracts.
It is a further advantage of certain embodiments of the present invention that ship owners and charterers may agree to terms of fixtures and charter party contracts by communicating directly through a network site rather than through a traditional broker.